As is known, the bindings used on snowboards and the like are constituted generally by a base body, which has a central portion from which side walls protrude for connecting the rear spoiler and the forward and front bands for retaining the shoe.
The central portion of the base body has a central hole with generally frustum-shaped edges for engagement with an angular positioning disk, which can be fixed to the snowboard.
The base body protrudes with respect to the region affected by the positioning disk and is provided by means of a rigid structure which is fastened to the snowboard, thus constituting a stiffening element also for the snowboard.
This fact is particularly negative, because the possibility of free flexing of the snowboard when subjected to stresses is compromised or otherwise modified, since in the region affected by the base body the board cannot bend, since such plate is connected rigidly to the snowboard.
One solution to the problem is disclosed in patent application WO2006077180 and consists in connecting the base body to the snowboard by way of contact means that involve only the regions located proximate to the positioning disk.
Moreover, this solution provides for the use of elastic shock-absorbing means interposed between the snowboard and the base body if the contact means cited above are not present.
More precisely, known shock-absorbing means comprise a number of front and rear pads, which when fixed to the base body act as shock-absorbing elements.
The presence of the shock-absorbing means together with the minimization of the area of contact between the base body and the snowboard obviates to a substantial extent the drawbacks mentioned earlier, giving greater flexibility and stability to the assembly, ensuring optimum functionality of the binding.
These known types of bindings, however, are not devoid of drawbacks, which include the fact that the described shock-absorbing means are difficult to connect to the base body.
Another drawback of known types of bindings with shock-absorbing pads consists in that during the use of the binding such binding can be subjected to intense stresses, which can include flexings and/or torsions, causing an excessive compression of one or more pads; this compression can lead to contact between the rigid portion of the binding and the snowboard, thus affecting the stability of the system and/or ruining the snowboard proper.